DRUG mules Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum have made their first court appearance since being told prosecutors were not ready to accept their guilty pleas.

The pair were hauled back to a makeshift courtroom in a men's prison in Lima to face more questions about the gang that sent them to Peru to pick up £1.5 million of cocaine.

Melissa, from Lenzie near Glasgow, and Michaella, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone were asked to expand on statements they made last week in court after confessing to trying to smuggle the drugs back to Europe.

Prosecutors had refused to agree to a deal giving them a shorter prison sentence unless they gave them more information about the drugs trafficking gang and admitted they were not forced to Peru at gunpoint.

The women, both 20, insist they were coerced into smuggling drugs for fear of their lives by Colombians they met in Ibiza where they were working over the summer.

Under Peruvian law the deal they were hoping to strike is called an early termination process and would mean they would automatically receive a six-year eight month jail sentence, an eighth off the minimum sentence for drugs trafficking of eight years.

A spokesman for Callao Criminal Court number four which is investigating the women, confirmed last night the pair had appeared in a private hearing before a judge.

The spokesman said: "This morning, in one of the rooms of Sarita Colonia men's prison, Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid amplified their statements.

"The hearing in front of judge Pedro Miguel Puente Bardales took place because on September 25 state prosecutors asked in writing that before the early termination hearing which had originally been scheduled for yesterday, the defendants expand on their court statements.

"The court arranged for that to happen.

Melissa Reid, cuffed, is escorted from a truck to court

"A week ago both women had accepted their guilt for the crimes they were accused of, showing their repentance and asking at the same time to be accepted within the early termination process.

It was not clear last night what the women said during the hearing as it was private.

Prosecutors were not available for comment.

It is thought prosecutors will now take time to review the women's expanded statements before deciding if they are ready to strike a deal.

If they still feel the women are holding back information, they will force them to go to trial where they could face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty.

As part of their carrot and stick approach, they have also hinted they could be free by Christmas if they agree to collaborate in bringing to justice the drugs gang that sent them to Peru.

Speaking before yesterday's hearing, chief state prosecutor Juan Mendoza Abarca said: "What the girls have said so far is not enough.

"We want to get to the men behind them and we want more information off them to do that.